Scottish Premiership Roundup: Rangers Struggles, Celtic's Hogh Shines

Derek McInnes is still searching for a first Rangers win, Celtic’s £11m striker has finally bared his teeth, and Hearts have reminded the league they are not about to slip quietly into the background. Two weeks into the Scottish Premiership season and the storylines are already piling up.

Same old Rangers questions for a new man

New manager, familiar problems.

McInnes was adamant after the match that Rangers “aren’t as bad as people think”. The Ibrox crowd saw something different. They saw another reshuffled back four, another soft penalty conceded, another afternoon when anxiety spread from the stands to the pitch.

Vanja Dragojevic’s clumsy haul on Josh Kerr summed it up. Poor positioning, poorer decision. Hibernian did not need an avalanche of chances; Rangers handed them the key moments. The structural issues that dragged last season off course are still there, just wearing a different coat.

The mood darkened further when Youssef Chermiti was stretchered off, a grim sight days after the club had turned down a sizeable offer from Galatasaray. A player deemed too valuable to sell suddenly looked fragile, and the sense of risk around that decision grew with every minute he lay on the turf.

Across the technical area, David Gray could admit Hibs “rode their luck” at times, but his players did what Rangers could not: they held their nerve. Fresh from an impressive Conference League qualifying win in midweek, they dug in, survived the pressure and left Ibrox with a victory that loosens the grip of pressure on their head coach.

For McInnes, the wait goes on. So do the questions.

Hogh answers the Celtic noise

Kasper Hogh arrived at Celtic with an £11m tag and an instant target on his back. His debut against Dundee fed the doubters: chances missed, frustration visible, murmurs starting.

All of that evaporated on Kilmarnock’s new grass pitch.

Three goals in 35 minutes at Rugby Park turned a narrative on its head. The Dane’s movement was sharp, his anticipation ruthless. He drifted into pockets of space, lost markers, and finished with the kind of conviction that justifies a hefty fee. This was a striker reading the game a second quicker than everyone around him.

Kilmarnock’s defending helped. It was ragged, hesitant, and at times bordering on charitable. Hogh feasted on it, and he was not alone. Benjamin Nygren and Luke McCowan also cashed in as Celtic ran up a score that sent them top on goal difference.

For Neil McCann, the numbers are brutal. Two Premiership games, two defeats, nine goals conceded. He wants his side to play open, front-foot football. Right now, the back door is wide open, and unless that changes quickly, the season risks becoming another long flirtation with the relegation scrap.

Celtic, by contrast, leave Ayrshire with their marquee striker in stride and their critics, for now, quietened.

Vrancken’s Hearts find their voice

Wouter Vrancken has not had an easy introduction to life at Tynecastle. A stuttering start domestically, defeats in Europe, and that alarming collapse at Aberdeen had some already questioning whether Hearts had misjudged their man.

Dundee United arrived in Gorgie at the wrong time.

Hearts’ 6-1 Europa League qualifying mauling hung over this fixture like a storm cloud. Vrancken needed a response; he got one. In front of goal, his side were suddenly incisive. At the back, they were organised and stubborn. Everything that had looked fractured a week earlier clicked into place.

All this with six players missing through injury and suspension. That matters. It hinted at depth, at adaptability, at a squad still very much onside with its manager.

The scoreline flattered Hearts, though. Dundee United, buoyed by their opening-day draw with Rangers, saw plenty of the ball. They worked good positions, moved the game into the final third often enough, but when it came to the final touch, they simply did not have it. Territory without teeth rarely wins you anything at Tynecastle.

For Vrancken, this felt like the first real step away from the shadow of last season and towards a team with its own identity.

St Mirren riding high – but for how long?

Two games, two wins, two clean sheets. St Mirren sit level with Celtic at the top of the table, and there is nothing fortunate about it.

Killian Phillips is driving much of that early surge. After a double on the opening day, his penalty separated the two Saints in Paisley and kept St Johnstone at arm’s length. He looks composed, confident, and increasingly central to how Craig McLeish wants his side to play.

That is exactly the problem.

Phillips is attracting interest, and with his contract ticking into its final year, McLeish has already spoken about helping him secure the best move possible. It is a generous stance, but a risky one. Every standout performance adds a zero to his value and another layer of uncertainty to St Mirren’s season.

St Johnstone, newly promoted and buoyed by a winning return to the top flight, did not shrink. They played with assurance, but their finishing deserted them. No shots on target in the first half, a missed penalty, the woodwork rattled. The margins were there; they just did not tilt their way.

In a league this tight, failing to punish spells of dominance tends to come back around.

Dundee sharp, Aberdeen blunt

Seven days can stretch a long way in football.

Aberdeen’s stirring comeback against Hearts had hinted at resolve and character. At Dens Park, both went missing. Dundee pressed, harried, and outplayed them, and when the final whistle went on a 2-0 home win, the travelling support responded with loud, unmistakable boos.

Steven Pressley’s side were worth far more than the two-goal margin. They controlled long spells, created chances, and carried a threat Aberdeen rarely matched. Joe Bevan led the charge, scoring one and setting up another, a constant menace as Dundee collected their first points of the season after a narrow defeat at Celtic Park.

Aberdeen, by contrast, looked flat. Where there had been late drive against Hearts, there was resignation here. Second balls went begging, attacks broke down, and belief seeped away.

They meet again on Saturday in the League Cup. Pressley will demand a repeat. Stephen Robinson needs something very different: urgency, aggression, and a response that proves Dens Park was a stumble, not a warning.

Motherwell steady under Johansson

When Jens Berthel Askou left Motherwell, there were mutterings of trouble ahead. Those concerns are on hold.

Alfred Johansson has stepped in without disrupting the momentum. Unbeaten in Europe and at home, his side added a clean sheet against Falkirk to a quietly impressive start. The target is clear: another top-four finish, another season of punching above their weight.

Motherwell began brighter at Fir Park, moving the ball with purpose and pinning Falkirk back. The Bairns, though, grew into the contest. Once they settled, they matched the Steelmen stride for stride and left with a point that will feel like more than that.

John McGlynn has lost key players and has had to rebuild on the fly. This performance, organised and resilient, offers something solid to cling to as Falkirk head into their first break of the season.

Two rounds in, the table is still deceptive, the narratives still forming. But the patterns are already there: Rangers wrestling with old ghosts, Celtic’s big signing finding his range, Hearts and St Mirren refusing to step aside. The question now is who turns an early spark into something lasting.